Abstract

The angiitides and granulomatous diseases of the lung present a fascinating spectrum of disorders. Their clinical and histopathologic features suggest that they are the consequences of a hypersensitivity or immunologically mediated process. As experience with these disorders has broadened over the past several years, some of them have come to be seen as having features that distinguish them from other diseases in the spectrum. Others overlap sufficiently, however, in their manifestations to cast doubt on whether distinction among them on clinical or pathological grounds is justified.

In this issue (pp. 691-699), Israel, Patchefsky, and Saldana point out recognizable differences in